Business data is typically stored within physical tables of a database. The database may comprise a relational database, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, Teradata and the like. The structures and relationships of the physical database tables are complex. To access the stored data, a user with knowledge of the structures and relationships may generate specific database-language queries which are intended to extract desired data from the database.
Business Intelligence (BI) tools typically rely on an abstraction layer that shields end users from the complexity of the physical tables. The abstraction layer allows end users to access business data stored in a database using intuitive terms rather than references to specific physical entities of the database.
Although BI tools and abstraction layers facilitate access to stored data, existing BI tools may fail to present the thusly-accessed data in a meaningful format. More specifically, a user may operate a BI tool to create a table of stored business data. Although the table presents all the data in which the user is interested, the table may fail to effectively convey trends, proportions, and other business information reflected in the data.
Visualizations (e.g., charts, tables, maps) are often used to present data in a manner which assists the understanding thereof. Accordingly, BI tools typically allow a user to create visualizations of accessed business data. Selection of an appropriate visualization for a given set of business data is difficult for the user. If the user selects an inappropriate visualization, the user may fail to appreciate some business meaning in the data that would otherwise be apparent using a different visualization.
Difficulties may arise even if a user is able to reliably select an appropriate visualization for a given set of business data. For example, the user may be unable to correctly perform tasks which are needed to generate the visualization in a most information-conveying manner. These tasks may include associating particular subsets of the data with particular visualization elements (e.g., axes).
Commonly-assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/478,836, 11/503,486 and 11/537,586 each relate to systems for facilitating the selection and/or generation of a data visualization. These systems may evaluate different visualizations based in part on the data to be presented thereby.